Questionnaire design: art vs. logic

In a meeting with other members of the marketing department (your classmates), the following comment is made. Briefly compose a reasoned response to this statement:

Because questionnaire design is an art, it is useless to follow a rigid set of guidelines. Rather, the process should be left entirely to the creativity and ingenuity of the researcher.

Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

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I am a market researcher by profession, and there is nothing as far as the truth as this statement.

I would have to say that questionnaire design is more of a science then an art - it should be looked at in a more logical, computer programming way.

The goal of writing a survey is to get the unbiased and honest opinions of people. When asking them questions, you don't want to lead them on, change their opinions, influence them.. ...

Solution Summary

This posting assesses the statement: Because questionnaire design is an art, it is useless to follow a rigid set of guidelines. Rather, the process should be left entirely to the creativity and ingenuity of the researcher.